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“We shouldn’t have come here.”

The smell of rot and death is strong, even though Brook is dreaming and he doesn’t even have a nose anymore. In this dream, he’s barefoot, the skeletal bone white a stark contrast to the blood-soaked, poisoned field he’s standing in. There’s no grass growing here—only bodies upon bodies, all his friends dead.

“We shouldn’t have come here,” the winds whisper again.

“We shouldn’t have,” he agrees, full of false cheer.

There’s no answer. The sun beats down mercilessly. Brook can’t feel the heat at all, but there’s sweat (even though he’s a skeleton!) dripping down his back anyway, the cruel sight in front of him burned into his eyes, his memories.

Why does he have to relive this over and over again?

It doesn’t make sense. It’s unfair. It’s—

“It’ll be okay,” his grandma used to say when he would wake up from these nightmares, shaking, crying, inconsolable. “It’ll all be fine.”

She would fix him a cup of warm milk—always warm milk (you’ll understand later, she would say, and he did in the end, after the flesh had rotted off his bones)—and wipe up his tears. She never asked what he dreamed about, only offered comfort.

The first time Brook had experienced such a dream, he couldn’t even put into words how he felt, what he saw.

How could he describe the way it reeked of death, so unbearably real, even though he’d never seen, much less smelled, a dead body before? How could he describe the feel of almost stepping on a corpse because he was panicked, stumbling, the feel of wet soil against his feet, wet with blood? So many dead lay in that field, each face warped in agony.

So, he didn’t say anything, just sobbed as his grandma held him close.

“You’ll be okay,” she said instead to fill the silence. Her eyes, however, held a wealth of despair for him.

“I’ll be okay,” Brook repeated.

He hoped it would ward away those bad dreams.

“I’ll be okay.”

Because he was in bed, swaddled in blankets, sipping his cup of milk. His grandma at his side, hugging him close.

“I’ll be okay.”

No matter how many years passed, none of his dreams were ever pleasant, and that was okay.

“Shishishishi.”

Brook opens his eyes—even though he doesn’t have any!—to the sound of strange laughter. There’s a young man in front of him, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Straw hat, scar under the eye, and an infectious grin: nobody Brook’s ever seen before.

He knows he must be dreaming because the backdrop is hazy, out of focus, but…

The man is not a corpse, a vengeful spirit, or some other strange entity trying to capture his attention in the real world.

“Ghost hunting, ghost hunting, I can’t wait to catch a ghost!” he sings, blissfully unaware of Brook’s presence.

And suddenly, Brook can see where this dream is taking place. The cold, dreary walls and outdated decor of his current dwelling come into sharp relief.

They’re in the aptly-named Ghost Mansion, and Brook must be dreaming about the very near future.

we met a ghost! (not clickbait) (no really)
4,644,288 views • Apr 3, 2021 1K 330K

“I really, really, really think we should be keeping a low profile after everything with Crocodile,” Nami says.

Her pleas fall on deaf ears. Usopp agrees, really, but he nagged, complained, and even begged their entire way here, and where did that get them?

Still right outside the gates of the hostile-looking, absolutely 100% ghost-infested manor.

“But…ghost hunting,” Luffy says. He’s fully decked out with all sorts of ghost-hunting gadgets, a camera atop his hat and in his careless hands.

“This is supposed to be the Gecko Moria’s property! What about trespassing do you not understand!”

Everything, Usopp answers internally.

Externally, Zoro rolls his eyes, and as he is wont to do, gives Usopp a heart attack by kicking open the creaky, rusted, ivy-covered gates. “Please, clearly no one bothers coming to check up around here.”

The gates topple over, metal bars clanging onto the cobblestone path with a frightening finality. The thick fog leading to the mansion’s entrance is barely disturbed, but Usopp swears he hears voices coming from that direction.

“Zoro!” Nami yells, as Sanji jumps to her defense, kicking at Zoro and adding to the chaos.

Because Usopp is an excellent addition to the Strawhat YouTube channel, he has perfected the art of holding the camera still while his entire body trembles in fear. Thanks to that skill, he fully captures Robin’s serene expression as she says, entirely monotone: “Oh no, the swordsman’s entire bloodline has been cursed now.”

During the 2-to-1 scuffle between Nami, Sanji, and Zoro, Luffy decides to run off towards the mansion. He vanishes into the fog almost instantly. Even as the channel’s greatest videographer, Usopp decides that the cameras attached to Luffy’s body should be enough to capture whatever shenanigans he gets into. They can always attempt to salvage the shaky footage later.

There’s no way he’s going to be the one following in after Luffy, alone.

“Oh man, you really can’t see anything around here.” Usopp shows the camera the thickness of the fog around them. Luckily, over time, he’s also developed the ability to speak clearly even when he’s scared shitless because otherwise the viewers would think he’s a coward.

And he’s not a coward.

It’s just that even though the rest of them had braved the fog together, even though he swears he held onto Zoro’s hand the whole time, he got separated.

So, now he’s alone.

Anyone in his situation would be scared.

“I hope I find the others,” Usopp yells into the gloom. “Any moment now!”

It’s a bit pointless. He tried calling for the others immediately after getting separated, but he didn’t hear a single peep back. The fog is definitely magical, and that does not frighten Usopp at all.

“I hope I find the others…Any moment now!” Usopp hears his words echoed back in a higher pitch.

“That’s strange.” Usopp slowly turns around. “Why is there an echo?” He comes face to face with—

“BOO!”

“EEEEEKKKK!” Usopp’s heart leaps out of his throat and starts pounding a million beats per minute.

“Horo-horo-horo-horo…”

“IT’S A GHOST!”

The ghost in question floats in front of Usopp, twirling her parasol, and has bubblegum pink hair tied up in twin pigtails. She’s also still laughing, one of the weirder laughs Usopp has heard.

“I’ve caught you,” she cheers, planting a hand firmly on Usopp’s shoulder. It’s solid.

Usopp does what any normal person would do in this situation.

He faints.

“Ghost hunting, ghost hunting, I can’t wait to catch a ghost!” Luffy sings as he skips through the mansion’s corridors.

Inside, there’s no fog at all. It’s a lot more fun, in Luffy’s opinion, since he can actually see where he’s going now. He’s got his eyes peeled for any sign of ghost activity, which is how he spots the unnatural way the curtain he’s zooming past shifts, the lack of shadows in that particular spot strange.

Luffy instantly turns around and points the spirit-o-whatever at the curtain. It lights up completely, beeping urgently at Luffy. “I’ve got you now, ghost! Shishishi!”

The ghost rips the curtain away itself, and what steps out is one of the coolest things Luffy has ever seen: a skeleton ghost with hair!

Luffy turns around to gush about it to the rest of his friends, but that’s when he realizes he’s alone. He looks both ways down the corridor just in case, but nope, they’re not here. They must’ve gotten lost, and now they’re missing out!

It’s a good thing Luffy brought a camera of his own this time. He brings it up to get a good look at the ghost. So cool! Even through the camera lens.

“Who… dares… trespass…?” the ghost asks.

Luffy bursts into laughter. “Shishishi, you sound like Usopp when he’s telling scary stories!”

The ghost crosses his arms and frowns. It’s pretty amazing that Luffy can tell he’s frowning when he doesn’t even have a face.

“What are you doing here?” the ghost asks in a normal voice this time.

“Ghost hunting!” Luffy answers cheerfully. “And I’ve found you so far.”

The ghost frowns even more. “I’m not a ghost.”

Oh! Luffy learned about this kind of situation from Ace before they came to Thriller Bark to ghost hunt. Sometimes, ghosts aren’t even aware they’re dead. In such a case, Ace advised that Luffy should be extra sensitive.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Luffy starts slowly, “but you’ve already passed away. I’m sorry.”

He smiles. Ace would be proud.

“Young man—”

“Luffy! I’m gonna be the King of YouTubers!”

The ghost has great manners and corrects himself. “Luffy, I’m not dead. I’m just a skeleton.”

Luffy’s jaw drops.

Best ghost hunt ever!

“Horo-horo-horo-horo!”

Usopp, unfortunately, wakes to that distinctive laugh.

“Awake now, huh?” The ghost sounds way too gleeful. “I can’t believe you fainted: so not cute! Kumashi had to carry your sorry ass here.”

Here, Usopp realizes, is a room with the walls painted hot pink, on top of a veritable bed of plushies with his hands tied behind his back. The ghost floats in front of a gigantic four-poster bed, complete with a mauve canopy. A hulking teddy bear, presumably Kumashi, steps into view.

“W-w-why did you tie me up?” And he had been doing so good up until this point, not letting his fear show, but the stutter gives him away for sure.

The ghost flips her hair, nonchalant. “To turn you in to Moria, duh.”

Alarm bells blare in Usopp’s mind. The trespassing!

“He’ll take your shadow from you, and Hogback will put it into one of his disgusting corpses,” the ghost continues. She sticks out her tongue, mimes gagging, but Usopp is pretty sure she’s not grossed out by the same things he is.

“W-well, that’s not gonna happen! Because my friends will come save me before that happens.”

At least, Usopp has faith in Nami, Sanji, and Robin. Zoro…is probably lost beyond belief, and who knows where Luffy went.

The ghost, far from being intimidated, rolls her eyes. With a dramatic flourish, she draws aside the canopy of the bed and reveals:

Nami, Sanji, Robin, and Zoro, collapsed on the bed, all of them looking pale and ashen. None of them are tied up like he is, but they don’t even try to get up.

“Horo-horo-horo,” the ghost laughs again. “Now, it’s your turn: Negative Hollow!”

Usopp reflexively closes his eyes. It’s a bad habit, he knows. Zoro has been working with him to get rid of it (by swinging training swords in frightening proximity to his face), but Usopp can’t help it at this moment.

Silence.

He doesn’t really feel any different.

Usopp opens one eye, tentatively.

The ghost looks perturbed.

“…was that supposed to do something?”

“Negative Hollow!”

This time, Usopp keeps his eyes open and sees a caricature of a traditional ghost flying from her hands into his body. One part of him thinks: is she eating ghosts and then releasing them as attacks? Isn’t that cannibalism? The other part of him finds strength in his lack of reaction to her attacks.

“What is this supposed to do?”

“Why isn’t it working!” the ghost screeches and drops to the ground, with a solid plop. She turns around and aims at his friends, a steady stream of ghosts that causes them to wilt further.

Usopp strains his ears to decipher the slight murmurs coming from them:

I’m useless…

I’m worthless…

No one likes me…

The ghost has her full attention focused on them now, seemingly raptured by the effect of her power. That’s when Usopp feels a delicate tap on his fingers. It’s only thanks to his rigorous training as a companion to Luffy’s adventures that keeps him from screaming out loud.

It’s Robin, one of her extra limbs. They make eye contact, as she summons more to work on untying his bonds.

Thanks to her deft fingers, Usopp is unbound in no time, and he’s ready to save the day for the rest of them, as the only one (other than Robin) seemingly immune to the ghost’s powers.

He grabs one of the plushies around him and aims for the ghost. The giant teddy bear moves to block him, but Usopp is too quick, too precise.

BAM!

And just for good measure, he throws a couple more in rapidfire succession. All of them hit their target, and the ghost falls over, unconscious.

Cautiously, edging around the teddy bear who honestly doesn’t seem that torn up about his friend? owner? getting pummeled with plushies, Usopp nudges the girl with his shoe. She doesn’t react. She is also very solid, very human-like for a ghost.

“It seems you’ve killed a ghost,” Robin remarks. “I wonder if you’re haunted now.”

…And since I was the only one unaffected by the nefarious Perona's Negative Hollow powers, thanks to my rigorous training deep in the mountains which honed my mental to be as sharp as steel, it was all up to me—the Great Usopp—to save everyone. With precise, careful aim, that's how I took out Perona and came to everyone's rescue!

(“Usopp, stop embellishing like that on our channel! Think of our reputation!”)

As everyone is coming to their senses, Luffy bursts through one of the garishly pink walls, a skeleton in tow.

There’s a horde of what looks like zombies behind them, struggling to enter through the Luffy-shaped hole in the wall.

“That’s what would’ve become of us,” Robin observes quietly. Usopp’s camera, which he had salvaged among the sea of plushies, captures the horrifying sight.

“My goodness,” the skeleton gasps. “What have you guys done to Miss Perona?”

Nami, thankfully, still has the energy to scream, and Usopp wholeheartedly supports her reaction.

“Oh, hey guys,” Luffy says, nonchalant as ever. “This is Brook. He’s not dead. He’s a skeleton! Isn’t that cool?”

No, Usopp tries to communicate with his facial expression only, because he feels like saying it out loud would make the skeleton—Brook—feel bad.

“No!”

“That hurts, yohoho!” Brook interjects, hand over his nonexistent heart.

“Nevermind the skeleton,” Zoro says. “What about those zombies?” His hands are on his swords, and there’s way too much eager bloodlust in his voice.

“Oh, I dunno. They just came outta nowhere.”

“They’re zombies, made by Gecko Moria! He steals people’s shadows, with the help of Miss Perona over here, and stuffs them into corpses to reanimate them,” Usopp explains.

Brook gasps in horror.

“Why are you surprised?” Sanji asks. “Don’t you live here? Aren’t you a part of their operation?”

Brook looks…pale and unwell, or as pale and unwell as a skeleton can look. “No, I’m not. I…I think I’ve had my shadow stolen from me.” Brook stares into the hoard of zombies pushing over each other, eyes searching desperately. He pales even more, if that was even possible, eyes locked onto one particular zombie. “That’s, that’s Yorki. My old friend, his corpse! Oh my, my heart, and that’s the good doctor, and—”

Usopp feels queasy. This part is getting cut out of the video for sure.

The look on Luffy’s face is familiar now, though, and comforting. Whether Brook likes it or not, he’s Luffy’s friend now, and that means the full force of Luffy’s stubbornness is going to be used to fix this.

The smell of rot and death is as strong as ever. There’s bodies all around. Brook’s kneeling, his knees—all bones—sinking into the bloody ground underneath him. The sun shines, too bright, and Brook looks Yorki’s corpse dead in the eyes.

Yorki looks back up at him. His mouth starts to move.

“We shouldn’t have come here,” Yorki says, struggling to get up. His body parts are stitched together, unnatural.

“We shouldn’t have,” Brook answers, as usual.

Yorki doesn’t answer, but he’s undead, body and soul continuing to suffer. In fact, all of them are undead, thanks to Brook’s inattentiveness, unwillingness to listen to what this dream meant all these years—

There’s something blocking Brook from the harsh sunlight, a hand outstretched.

It’s a boy: straw hat, scar under the eye, and infectious grin.

Brook blinks, and the field of corpses is gone.

“It’ll be okay,” Luffy says, pulling Brook to his feet.

“It’ll be okay,” Brook repeats and wakes up.

Extras:

Infamous Surgeon Dr. Hogback In Cahoots With Notorious Thriller Bark Governor Gecko Moria In A Shockingly Grave Scandal!

Troublemakers Strike Again: The Strawhat Luffy YouTube Channel Trespass To Reveal The Dirty Secrets of Thriller Bark

The Ultimate Disrespect! Thriller Bark Governor & Disgraced Surgeon Caught Desecrating Graves

Spooky Scenes In Thriller Bark! EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Usopp of Strawhat Luffy YouTube Channel Fame

“Look at these headlines! I told you, Luffy, we need to lay low! And you, Usopp! Don’t think I forgot about you. It’s not just this interview; what is this video!”

Interview with a REAL skeleton
3,370,403 views • Apr 7, 2021 1K 220K

“Shishishi, we’re welcoming Brook to the channel!”